Mod Podge Madness!

My buddy Taylor is hosting a Valentine's Day Blog hop. If you'd like to start at the beginning, just click here.

As part of the InStyle Stamps design team, I had a fun opportunity to play with some great products from Plaid. Check out all of these goodies that I received in the mail! Who doesn't love pop dots and glitter glue?
I was able to put together a really cute gift set, in record time, with many of these great products offered from Plaid.
Here's what I came up with...
A gift tin, altered mini notebook and matching card.

The tin measures about 6 inches tall and I used a new image from InStyle Stamps to decorate the front.

Above is a close up of the mini notebook and the card.

Here's how I put it all together...

I cut my patterned papers to size and then brushed Paper Mod Podge Matte on the back.

After that layer dried (5-10 minutes) I painted over the top of it with the Sparkle Mod Podge.

When they say "Sparkle", they're not kidding.

This stuff is AWESOME and this is only one coat!

After I added the image panel, I embellished with black chipboard, flowers and buttons.

This little cutie is called "Mom Love" and you can find her right here. I used a Nestability to cut out the image and then sponged some "So Saffron" ink around the edges to soften it up a bit.

Then I added some pink grosgrain ribbon around the edge of the lid.

Here's the mini book that I altered...

I put a Copic next to it to show the size.

I used more of this cute patterned paper by We R Memory Keepers and adhered it with Mod Podge Matte finish.

For embellishing, I colored a white paper flower with Copics,

and then brushed over it with Mod Podge Sparkle.

After it dried, I used a pop dot to add a chipboard heart to the center.

I also used some Mod Podge Sparkle on the balloons that I used for the card. This image is also by InStyle Stamps and can be found here.

Are you still with me?
If you are, you're a champ!
Here's one last look at the complete set.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today! The next stop on the hop is my buddy Melissa! She's got lots of info on all of the great prizes up for grabs today on the hop!
I'm off to school to throw a root beer float party.
Happy Valentine's Day!

For the boys

I don't know about you, but I never seem to have enough boy cards. And as my son and his friends get older, the cute cartoon-y images just don't cut it.I just got this "Extreme Skateboarder" image from Stampin Up and thought it would be perfect to whip up a batch of "big boy" cards :-) I used colors, patterns and embellishments from an SU Simply Scrappin Kit called "Cool Kids".
I'm loving the color gray at the moment. And I just stocked up, so brace yourselves because I'll be using it lots!
I try to go easy on the embellishments when I'm making masculine cards. I usually don't put ribbon on them, but I think it works here. I cut about 12" of polka dot ribbon and applied double stick tape to the back of it. Then I just squished it all together at the bottom of the tag and accented with red brads. All I had on hand were fluorescent pink brads - ewwwww. Why do I have these!? Thank goodness I had my handy-dandy red Copic marker that came to the rescue!

Thanks a bunch Anya

My kiddos recently got a package of goodies from their cousin in Japan and I needed an extra special thank you card to pop in the mail. Jen's January SFYTT inspired the layout and Anya was the perfect size for the main layer. She's part of the "Miss Anya Collection" from The Greeting Farm and she's so much fun to color.
The patterned papers are by BasicGrey and the card base is SU's Not Quite Navy. Of course I had to finish it off with some orange jewels - wouldn't be one of my cards without some sparkle.

The green Copics pictured above were used to color the grass. You can see my tutorial for that right here. Thanks for stopping by!

Drum roll please...

Happy Friday!
I've selected my team for Christmas Stampin All Year Long and I can finally introduce them to you! Hop on over the CSAYL blog to see the new team members and give them a warm welcome.
As for me...I'm off to bake 150 cookies for a cookie decorating marathon with my kids this weekend :-) Have a great one!

Oh...for any of you who are Barnes & Noble lovers like me, check out this awesome deal that was just posted on Groupon!

Pink Cat Digital Release Day!

You didn't think we'd forget about Betty did you? Oh my gosh....Itty Bitty Betty is so adorable, and today she's ready for Valentine's Day! I used the swing image for my first sample. This is my most favorite card that I've made in awhile! Don't you just love when something comes together? I used four different patterned papers on this and a cute cloud die.

I sponged some light blue ink on the edges of the clouds and around the main image. Then I finished it off with some clear jewels.

Here's Betty with her wagon full of Valentines. I think she's going to Itty Bitty Bobby's house.

There's no such thing as too much glitter is there?

I used Copics to draw in a sidewalk and grass. If you'd like to try it out for yourself, you can check out my tutorial right here.

For my last card today, I wanted to make something that looked like it was made by a kiddo.

I cut different papers into thin strips and layered them with dimensionals. Then I added some thread ponytails to Betty and finished it off with a cute sentiment that looks hand written.

I hope you enjoyed my samples for the new release. If you hop on over to the PCS store today and pick up some of these (or any other) cuties, you'll get a FREEBIE image to play with! You know you want to....all of the cool stampers are doing it.

Zoophabet

My cousins daughter just turned six and this is what she got in the mail. I picked up this "Zoophabet" set by Penny Black a couple of years ago, and I've only used it one other time. I had so much fun inking up these cuties, that this is now my go-to set for kiddo cards. Didn't you love to get things with your name on it when you were little?
I paired up Pumpkin Pie and Bermuda Bay cardstock with a fun striped pattern from the SU "Sunny Day" kit.

Thanks for stopping by!
I'll be back on Thursday to share the new release from Pink Cat Studio.

Pink Cat Digital Release Day!

Sorry for my absence this week. I've been super busy going through all of the applications for my design team call! I'll be announcing my new team on Friday, February 4th! If you're interested, there's still a few days left to apply!

Now let's get to the real reason you stopped by. Once again, it's Pink Cat Studio digital release day and once again Melissa has blown me away...

Adorable, no?

For some reason, this "Alice" image put me in a very girly mood. I decided to create a little garden scene on my card. Lots of pink, flowers, jewels and dew drops. My daughter has already taken this card hostage, so I think that's a good sign :-)
Billy as the Mad Hatter inspired me to make a "Mad Money" container.Every girl needs a secret stash of $ to support her addiction, ehem....I mean hobby. (Sadly I had to borrow money from my kids to take this photo - they've sucked me dry this week!) I used lots of fun colors on this and embellished with orange jewels.

Be sure to hop on over to the PCS blog for more inspiration. I can't wait to see what the rest of the team did with these images. After that, head on over to the PCS website, so you can order these cuties and get your FREEBIE for today only!

Whoo's your valentine?

Seems like forever since I've played along with a Splitcoast sketch challenge. I decided to ink up this cute set by SU and whip up a little something for someone special. I adore all of the colors and patterns from the SU "Sunny Day" Simply Scrappin' Kit. It definitely makes it easy to put together a bright and cheerful card.


I used a glitter pen to outline the owl and accent some of the heart stickers.
Quick post today. I've got TONS of dt applications and blogs to go through! Thanks to all of you who applied! Have a great Monday.

Bon Voyage

Only one more week left in my design team call for "Christmas Stampin All Year Long"! If you're interested, click here for more info.

Last week I played along with the MFT sketch for the first time and guess what? I won! I know, I know.....beginner's luck. Well, they have a new sketch this week and it's another one that was too good to resist! Here's what I came up with using an MFT set called "Going Places". I used a double-sided patterned paper by We Are Memory Keepers and paired it with Riding Hood Red and So Saffron cardstock. Not my normal color scheme, but cheery none the less.
Have a fantastic weekend!

For my SuperMan

If you're interested in my design team call OR being one of our sponsor companies for a weekly challenge, click here.

Well, it's official. My big hunk of man turns one year older tomorrow! The kiddos and I decided that a Superhero theme would be perfect for his card, because he really is our hero. The cute image is from this set by Pink Cat Studio. The fun patterned papers are from a boy themed paper pack by DCWV and the layout was inspired by Karen's sketch last weekend.
Quick post today - thanks for stopping by!